


A Leap of Faith

by ehcanuck



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Force Acrobatics, Gen, POV Outsider, Planet Melida | Daan (Star Wars), Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, canon levels of trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-24 10:54:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30071181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ehcanuck/pseuds/ehcanuck
Summary: Obi-Wan really isn't sure how a tiny Yoda ended up on Melida-Daan but he was going to do his best to reunite him with his... family?He would be really more helpful if the youngling would give him more to work with - really anything else besidesthis is the Way
Comments: 40
Kudos: 405





	A Leap of Faith

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be for JangObi week back in February for the prompt "Time Travel"  
>   
> Buttttt things got out of hand and life got busy. I have stuff written for each of the seven prompts but given **none** of them had the courtesy of remaining **snippets**... I'll eventually post them but I'd like to finish any current incomplete projects first.  
>   
> The JangObi became background once I figured out _who_ would be time travelling but it will still be there in Chapter 2.  
>   
> So most of this is Legends stuff and if you have ever looked at a timeline of events, you know that 44 BBY is a very very bad year for Obi-Wan and the Republic. It was their 2020 but so much worse hahaha. For plot convenience, some events might be shifted or ignored but what is canon really anymore with all retconning between Legends and Disney. I read the JA series a good 15 years ago, so things will probably be a little off as the wiki details are a little sparse and my memory isn’t the best.  
>   
> Nothing is beta’d, I die like Fives.  
>   
> Standard disclaimer: I own nothing but the bits that are my plot

Exchanging grim but triumphant grins, Obi-Wan and the others ran once they had gotten clear of the Melida’s buildings. They had only their best guess that they were out of the sightlines of the guards patrolling in and around said buildings. Though even if they weren’t, the risk of being heard or seen was less than the risk of being too close by this point. 

After all - as they liked to joke: out of sight was also out of sound but not out of range! ...It was probably funnier if you were there. 

Anyway, they let their feet thump loudly against the hard-packed dirt to focus all their effort on putting distance between them and the Melida’s encampment. Obi-Wan was pleased their training was working: even though they were sacrificing stealth for speed, none of the Young he was with got careless - they remained wary, scanning for enemies in the low light and carrying their weapons at the ready. 

It was especially good to see that they didn’t get cocky - careless would be one thing but overconfident was quite another - keeping low and to the long shadows caused by the early dawn before darting quickly into the tall grass. Letting the younglings race ahead, Obi-Wan lingered at the back of the group in order to defend against any pursuers they might gain while they rushed back to their sanctuary.

He and his squad had just successfully infiltrated the main Melida munitions warehouse and sabotaged it without being caught. There were no injuries, no deaths, no members left behind to the dubious mercy of the Elders because they were too far away or in a too dangerous spot for rescue. Across the planet, another squad was doing the same to the Daan with hopefully the same level of success. 

It wouldn’t do to become distracted now. 

This stretch of time was the most dangerous to them (well, after the time spent infiltrating and setting up the bombs) as there was nothing but open space and some vegetation between the Melida operation and the ruins of old Zehava. If their luck did not hold and their tampering was discovered, they would almost certainly be in trouble - especially if the Melida still had working portable searchlights. If they still had those, their movements through the stubborn grasses in the meadow would be fairly easy to spot as the stalks movement gave away their position even while they concealed them. 

It was only once they were dozens of metres away from the other encampment without any alarms sounding - and thus relatively safe - that he allowed a wild grin to break across his own features. The taste of victory tasted sweet on his tongue: unlike their other efforts lately, it wasn’t tainted with the bittersweetness of grief or pain for those under his command.

Soon. 

Soon there wouldn’t be enough to fight _with_ and the Elders would be forced to come to the negotiation table. 

Soon he wouldn’t need to lead younglings as young as 8 years in attacks and raids against the Elders ruining their planet. 

There would be peace.

They would be able to just be children and allow their planet to heal. 

A muffled _Th-WHUMP_ went off in the distance followed shortly thereafter by the clang of a fire bell and the screaming of an alarm. The children and young teens he was with whooped happily at the sign of their successful efforts - signalling the demise of the warehouse filled with weapons as the planted explosives went off. 

One of the copper-haired Melida younglings let out a breathless giggle and high-fived the ebony-haired Daan tween running beside them, high on the success of their first mission, the others following suit with any in reach.

They didn’t stop moving though even for their very brief celebration, as their grace period was now up. The explosion and the subsequent cacophony of alarms only reminded them of that, encouraging them to run faster. It was now very urgent that they get to the safety of the ruins before the Melida came swarming to find and kill the perpetrators. 

Obi-Wan felt the thrill of adrenaline course through him, both from the explosion and from the emotional resonance of the others, pushing away the dregs of exhaustion that had been pulling him down. 

His straining senses buoyed by the surge of adrenaline (and stress) is probably what let him hear the quiet childish burbling. Slowing down and glancing around, he spotted what first appeared to be a large rock but that quickly proved instead to be a wiggling ball of youngling in rough-spun brown cloth, the same colour as the dusty ground. 

… Was that Yoda?

Knowing they only had a few more minutes before the area was overrun by enraged Melida, Obi-Wan zigged to the left and scooped up the small one. He then drew on the Force to catch up to the other six, darting into the ruins of Zehava and the concealed sewer entrance within.

“Sorry young one, you’ll have to come with us.” Obi-Wan murmured as he ran, “It is not safe out here. I’ll help you find your family later if you have any still around here.”

He stumbled and nearly dropped his precious cargo in surprise when the little one outright _shoved_ all of their confusion and longing at him in the Force. They burbling at him aloud, small-clawed hands clutching tightly at his clothes.

At that moment, he felt only unfathomable grief and joy from the youngling before their shields went back up.

He shook his head when he realized that he’d stopped dead in his tracks and was staring in the middle of a ruined roadway. That sort of inattention could cost him his life! Shaking his head once more as though shaking off water, he began to run again with the youngling tucked under his arm. Now was not the time to get his head lost in the stars! Pushing away his own confusion and curiosity to focus on the here-and-now, he continued to weave his way through the rubble and buildings to make his way to safety. 

He had caught up with the others again when they all heard the whine of a far-off speeder engine that was coming closer. 

But they were almost there. 

They should be able to make it before that speeder got to the area. They had to.

There was no denying the sharp surge of relief that rushed through him when they finally reached the alley that hid the intact sewer tunnel. As the younglings darted in ahead of him, Obi-Wan quickly looked around to see if there were any unfriendlies around. After all, it wouldn’t do for the Melida or the Daan to find them now and to be able to raid them in turn.

Once he was sure they were alone, he followed them while leaving his senses open to catch any incoming hostile minds. In the alley, the younglings were finishing moving the boxes and large rubble to the side that hid one of the entrances to their sanctuary. Obi-Wan yanked open the heavy sewer grate and ushered his squadmates inside before jumping down into the small tunnel himself. Reaching out with the Force, he replaced the grate over the tunnel: wedging it into place and moving the minor debris back on top to camouflage it. 

There. 

Then he sat down hard on the concrete walkway to stare hard at the small green being he had picked up, holding him up to eye level. Reaching out slowly with his Force presence, he offered the equivalent of a handshake to the young one. He? She? …They giggled and gave the mental equivalent of a **poke** back.

Definitely Force-sensitive then. 

One who knew some semblance of control at that. 

Goodness. 

Okay. Well. This was happening? Just…

Goodness. No one even _knew_ what species Yoda and Yaddle are, nevermind where their home planet(s) was? What were the odds that he would find one of their _younglings -_ and a Force-sensitive one at that - in the middle of an active war zone? 

He felt the panic and despair of the last three months surge in him. He was no Jedi, only a _wash-out_ who couldn’t protect anything enough _._ The Force shouldn’t have guided the little one to him! He was a failure! Too angry, too emotional, too _empathetic_ to realize when a situation was beyond his ability to help with. How was he to help such a vulnerable youngling when he could barely help himself?

Better the child had come to Master Koon, Master Rancisis, Master Tholme, or _literally anyone else_! 

Another mental **poke** jerked him out of his panic as the small one looked up at him with such trust, and then offered their name _Grogu._

“Hello Grogu,” Obi-Wan said softly, in both disbelief and awe. “My name is Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

Little Grogu gave the mental equivalent of a shriek and jump at his name while their tiny arms flailed and reached out for his face, happy chattering sounds escaping their tiny mouth.

-x-

They made it back through the warren of tunnels to the blocked-off storm drain that the Young had made their centre of operations without encountering any problems. The squad that had sabotaged the Daan warehouse had made it back before them, and so their entry is greeted with raucous cheers. 

There had been no losses and minimal injuries - a very rare good day for Young and their mission of bringing peace to their war-torn world. They sadly cannot have a party even down here as too much noise might alert the Elders where they’re hiding. It also did not help that there is not enough light in the tunnels for most games, and there are no extra special drinks or bits of food to break out (in fact they must carefully ration what little they _do_ have). Despite that, the evening takes on a decidedly cheerful tone as they all find ways to quietly celebrate anyway.

Instead of joining in one of the cuddle piles as he normally would, Obi-Wan instead grabbed a ration pack and split it with little Grogu, sitting on one of the mats in the far corner. 

Normally, bringing in a new person would have prompted vetting and interviews before allowing them back to their base but considering how small and young Grogu appears to be, it seems to be fine. Obi-Wan is a little too caught up in his thoughts to be an impartial judge but Nield and Cerasi walk over and exchange glances briefly before nodding in simple acknowledgement. 

So it's fine. 

They sit there in silence, exchanging Force signatures and getting to know each other a bit better. Like with all Force bonds, the longer they commune like this, the better able they are to “talk”. 

A part of himself that Obi-Wan hadn’t really been conscious of - a part that in hindsight had been so stressed from the lack of contact with another Force-sensitive - finally relaxes. He loses time, establishing that mental bond and exchanging feelings, then simple words, then pictures between the youngling.

Little Grogu isn’t sure how he ended up here - in fact, he’s downright confused that Obi-Wan doesn’t have what Obi thinks is a beard on his face? Either that or he thinks Obi-Wan should have a very high scarf or some form of strange helmet… It is a little silly but fun trying to understand what Grogu is trying to show him. His species does not see in the same spectrum as Obi-Wan’s humanoid species does (or maybe it is just Grogu - after all sometimes sentients are born with different working eyes than the rest of their species), and the images are from a time when their eyes were still developing, causing further distortion of the images he’s showing. 

He doesn’t remember visiting the creche and seeing a little Yoda, but that is one of the images that Grogu offers to him. All things considered, he’s fairly sure it is a memory rather than merely an idea put into a mental picture because it is too detailed to be anything but some sort of recollection.

It is strange. 

Stranger still is Grogu’s firm memories of a humanoid in shining metal armour who radiates safety and family, and whom Grogu longs desperately to get back to. 

He tries to coax more information from the little one, but they stubbornly stick to pictures and feelings, giving only one or two one-word answers. When Obi-Wan asks for a name, he gets the visual of a metalled fist tapping against a breastplate and a shake of a head combined with a sense of duty and protection. Trying to get Grogu to show him the face of his protector - so he knows who to look for - is met with horror and an absolute refusal.

He doesn’t understand when there is to protect about a name or a face, but he will respect the youngling’s feelings.

On the other hand, it makes it impossible to figure out a plan of action to reunite them when all he has to go off is a set of armour. It is true that armour like that is incredibly uncommon on Melida/Daan, but if his guardian had to take it off or was robbed, there is literally no way for Obi-Wan to find him and reunite them. 

After trying fruitlessly to get some more details from the child, Obi-Wan flops sidewise on the mat and pulls little Grogu into the crescent formed by his body. 

“Well little one, I’m out of ideas.” Obi-Wan whispers, “I can’t run around the planet in the hopes that I would see your guardian somewhere. Both the Melida and the Daan know my face as one that came with the adult Jedi. At best they’ll just kill me, but at worst they’ll capture and torture me like Master Tahl. Without any other way of finding them, I’m afraid that you’re stuck with me.”

Grogu shifts closer, flopping down and reaching out to his face with a small-clawed hand; _looking_ at him with his eyes too old for his young face. He must see what he’s looking for because there’s a hesitant poke again at his shields before a string of numbers flashes into his mind. A comm code - and unless he was sorely mistaken, the first four digits were an Outer Rim area code for the Noonian, Ojestor, Mandalore, Meerian, and Weneen sectors. That narrowed down things a little - with the armour Grogu had shown him, his guardian was likely to be Mandalorian. 

Guess it was a good thing he wasn’t a Jedi anymore: going by Master Ti-nak’s history lectures, they wouldn’t likely be happy with him if he had been. 

-x-

Obi-Wan looked over the embankment again at the imposing building in the distance, trepidation making his heart beat in triple time the longer he looked. From what he could see and from the Young scout reports: the old comms building had been transformed into something of a castle keep, complete with slap-dash fortifications. While amateur and clearly thrown together with what was at hand, it didn’t look any less formidable to a 13-year-old with a toddler to protect. 

This is the only remaining working comm station as far as the Young knew, one that has changed hands multiple times between the Melida and Daan. There had been a deliberate effort made to keep it intact by all factions: no one had been willing to sever communications with the wider galaxy (or at least, not _yet_ ). After all, neither the Melida nor the Daan (nor the Young) have the means to fix it if it is destroyed now. Which unfortunately made it a prize and frequent target between both groups; so the guards would be on high alert at all times. 

To start, even just approaching it would be difficult with the fifty meters radius of barren soil leaving no true place to hide. Well, that was somewhat untrue - there _were_ rubble and wood barricades blocking the roads that could be used as shelter… but those also concealed deadly booby traps and were best avoided altogether. Off the roads, there were buried pressure sensors here and there that if stepped on would explode - though they were concealed with ill-intent causing them to radiate malice in the Force so he should be able to avoid those. If you reached the building itself, the only remaining entryway to reach the building within was guarded by a barbican made from old speeders complete with a vicious-looking rusty portcullis of scrap metal. At some point, either the Melida or the Daan had built a mid-sized stone and scrap metal curtain wall going all the way around: the only break was for the barbican. Walking slowly along the parapets on the wall were patrolling adults with their blasters at the ready, while a pair walked around the perimeter at its base with a mangy-looking massiff. 

Going in the normal way without several squads to back you up would be suicide. 

But the only lead on Grogu’s guardian is the comm number he knows so in the name of getting the child to safety, Obi-Wan is willing to risk it. It took some deliberation but eventually, he got Nield and Cerasi to agree.

Something he’s regretting a little now, looking at the worn building bristling with defenders. He tracks the sentries rotation one more time before rocking back on his heels to stare incredulously at the innocent-looking Grogu sitting beside him. 

“...I can’t believe you’ve convinced me to do this.” He grumbled at the youngling who just blew a bubble at him in response. 

He looked up at the sky briefly; it was about a half-hour until sunset judging by the colours and the sun’s position on the horizon. He should get ready.

Obi-Wan turned around to rifle through the small duffle bag he brought with them for the long cloth ties. As he wound the ties around his limbs, securing any loose fabric tight against his skin, he grouched: “This is going to get us _killed_.”

Once he’s sure that there isn’t any loose cloth to flop around or get caught in things, he quickly does a few crouched stretches to limber up, his boots splashing in the shallow water of the tributary. He is satisfied when he can still move as expected, and determining that he hasn’t restricted the movement of cloth _too_ much. That done, he then cranes his head back over the embankment again to look at the facility. 

Yep, still heavily guarded. 

With a groan, he crouches and puts his head in his hands. Releasing his fear and worry to the Force, he turns a gimlet eye at the excited youngling beside him. “If we die, I’m blaming you.”

Grogu puts a small, clawed hand on his arm and babbles nonsense at him quietly, projecting reassurance at him in the Force. The sweetness of the gesture is somewhat undermined by him offering half of a frog with his other hand. 

“You eat it,” Obi-Wan says magnanimously, looking dubiously at the partially eaten amphibian. He wasn’t that hungry, or at least not _yet_. He reached out with a gentle hand to ruffle those long ears while he mumbled. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

Grogu quickly consumed what was left of his snack before climbing onto Obi-Wan’s front, tiny hands gripping tightly at the cloth ties that crisscrossed there.

Obi-Wan huffed a small laugh before widening the front of his tunic. “There’s no sense for you to hang onto my front like a Komala Bear from Alola.” He then picked the youngling up and tucked him into his tunic, moving the cloth straps on his torso slightly to help support him. “Do you feel secure there?”

He got a squeak back which sounded like an affirmation. 

Good enough.

With the sun just barely a sliver over the horizon, Obi-Wan slipped over the embankment and into the sparse reeds and tall grass lining the tributary. With dusk having progressed into evening, his brown clothes and the low light helped to camouflage him as he moved closer to the building. 

He does his best to focus on his surroundings while extending the Force as far as he dares, keeping this sixth sense attuned to the minds of those patrolling. Force willing, if they spot him, the alert registering in their consciousness will give him enough time to dodge and escape. 

Once clear of the tall grass, he waited until the opportune moment - when one sentry turned the corner just as another approached from the other direction. 

For those few precious seconds, the stretch of plains in front of him was in their blindspots. He immediately took off running as fast as he could. After moments of all-out sprinting, he dropped and tucked into a ball, grateful for once of his small size. As planned, he could feel Grogu’s mind focus and do his best to project an image of a rock to the sentries while Obi-Wan continued to monitor as many minds as he could for discovery. It seemed to work as no alert registered in the sentries’ minds and they continued to patrol. A minute or so later, their routes overlapped again and Obi-Wan got up to dart forward once more. 

He was lucky that he needed to do this on such a devastated planet with few materials as otherwise, a facility like this would certainly have had spotlights and a mysteriously moving rock would certainly be noticed. 

It was a stressful fifteen minutes, but at last, they reached the wall. Obi-Wan paused for a moment to catch his breath against the cool stone and metal. He also helped Grogu out of the front of his tunic to instead perch on his shoulders with clawed fingers delicately gripping his head. After all, he didn’t want to squish the youngling between his body, stone, and old rusty metal. Their grace period was soon up as his mind alerting him that the sentries with the massiff were going to be coming close to the corner that led to their stretch of wall. 

So, steeling himself, he jumped up as high as he could before reaching out with the Force and kicking off the wall to get just that little bit higher. At the peak, he jammed his fingers into some cracks, wincing as stone and metal pressed and cut into his hand. 

He hummed happily to himself when he noted they’d made it halfway up the wall before freezing once the sentries came around the bend. The massiff began to sniff the air interestedly and Obi-Wan panicked as he realized _the blood._ He could feel the desire to howl an alert rising from it so he let go of his sensing of other minds to instead coil around the creatures. He soundlessly whispered reassurances to it: _friend, friend, no harm, no harm_ doing his best not to panic. 

However, the massiff didn’t seem to care and time slowed as Obi-Wan sensed it slow with a bark building in its chest. At that moment, he also felt Grogu catch on to what he was doing and chime in, passing on messages of non-hostility and friendship with an element of something _else_. Something he’d normally sense when communing mind to mind with a predator that wanted to eat him... 

There was a split second when he thought it wouldn’t work - that it _didn’t work_ \- but then the hound decided that he didn’t care enough to deal with them and was more interested in his supper waiting at the end of this rotation. The incident had been only a few seconds but had stretched on for an eternity as the massiff moved on without alerting his handlers. Somehow Obi-Wan was convinced this was more due to Grogu’s effort than his own but was too relieved that the creature was moving along to be offended by that. 

Once he was sure they were gone, he began to slowly pull himself up and once more reached out with the Force, sensing for the guard rotation once more.

With the sun now really and truly set, it was his best time to make it over the walls. Once the sentry closest to him passed him by and he sensed the other across the way - sight in his direction obscured by the walls of the comms building - he put his hands in the crenel on either side of the merlon, then pushed himself up and over; swinging himself onto the palisade.

He landed on his toes in a crouch, as quiet as he could while Grogu continued to cling tightly to his head. After a moment, he moved - scuttling a few metres behind the walking sentry, looking for a good place to get down. After all, just jumping would create too much noise for stealth as they were too high off the ground, and he wasn’t strong enough to call upon the Force to help soften his fall **and** remain alert to the emotional status of the beings surrounding him. He was within luck as just a little bit ahead was a set of cargo boxes that had been fashioned into a rudimentary staircase.

Grogu tugged lightly at his hair and called _that way_ , followed by the mental image of a vent cover _._

That way? Obi-Wan hesitated and stilled, eyes following the imperiously pointed little finger, across the three-metre wide gap to the comms building. The roof was slightly higher than the level of the palisades but that was clearly not what had caught the youngling’s attention but rather the vent that was set up as a dormer, poking out from the roof. 

Well, they hadn’t identified a way _into_ the comms building once past the wall. So little Grogu’s improvisation was as good as any. 

He mentally asked Grogu - _Force Leap or Notice-Me-Not?_ He then slumped a little when the youngling indicated he would power the leap - as he only had practice at projecting an image, not at using a long-term mental suggestion to ignore something. The mental suggestion would also be harder for him to improvise as they would be moving, rather than staying still. It was good logic, even if he would have preferred it being the other way around.

There was no time to question whether the youngling knew how to compensate for his weight and size: they were on a limited time as the far sentry would be rounding the wall soon. They would either need to continue to make their way down or he would have trust that Grogu would be able to do it. Any hesitation in making a leap like that would cost Grogu speed and distance which he’d then have to compensate for. 

The leap was the more defined plan, even though it was riskier. 

It would have to do. 

He let Grogu know the plan and felt the youngling concentrate, claws prickling at his skin as he gathered the Force around him. Steeling himself, Obi-Wan went back a step before bounding forward the width of the palisade and leaping.

As soon as he was in the air, he projected the best _Notice-Me-Not_ around them both, focusing on keeping the suggestion moving with them. He was relieved when he felt Grogu catch them at the peak of the jump, and preserve their momentum to buoy them the rest of the way. 

Obi-Wan’s hands caught on the gutter and he shuffled along the edge until they were in front of the dormer vent - one hand leaving bloody handprints behind as they went. Grogu quickly scuttled off his shoulders to the roof to get a better look, then raised both hands and the screws holding the vent in place came out, followed by the cover to float in mid-air. 

Not wasting any time, Obi-Wan then did a pull-up and crawled inside and then heard Grogu follow in after him, his little feet softly slapping against the metal of the vent… Obi-Wan was mildly jealous that the young one could easily walk within while he had to slowly leopard crawl. Once all the way inside and no longer needing to focus on the _Notice-Me-Not_ , Obi-Wan reached out with the Force himself to help Grogu replace the vent and put the screws back into place.

Then he slowly slumped forward on his belly to let his aching muscles rest for a moment while thanking the Force for all its help. Considering they were a youngling and almost an initiate in age, the fact that they had gotten this far without issue was nothing short of Force intervention. He then reached into his belt pouch for a precious bandage wrap and wrapped it around his hand to staunch the bleeding caused by the rusty metal - _it was a good thing he had gotten his tetanus vaccination just before coming here._

After a minute, Grogu clambered delicately over him, being careful to not make much noise to then take point. Together they quietly shuffled through the vents, peeking through grates to try to find the comms room. 

As they went, Obi-Wan couldn’t help the panic building low, deep in his stomach. _There were so many Elders here._ So many _Elders_ with so many _blasters!_ He tried to centre himself - really he did - but the sight of so many weapons (terrible weapons that had been responsible for some of the most traumatizing deaths he’d ever witnessed) combined with the angry gossip and threats made towards the perpetrators who had destroyed their weapons caches… well, he wasn’t exactly surprised when he wasn’t able to breathe his fear fully into the Force. Little Grogu seemed upset too, his Force signature whirling with stress… It took a moment but Obi-Wan realized that their negative feelings were being compounded by all the hostility surrounding them and by the other’s reaction to it. 

When they reached a fork, Obi-Wan made an executive decision that they couldn’t carry on like this and reached out with his mind to tap at Grogu’s shields. Once the youngling had relaxed them a bit, he mentally explained his idea and then coaxed them into a sort of shared meditation. Which, considering he had been a Padawan for only five months, he was pretty proud of managing. Over the next few minutes, they helped soothe the other’s nerves and build stronger shields by overlapping theirs together. It likely wasn’t the _best_ idea to intertwine their signatures and minds like that, but Obi-Wan had no idea how else they could proceed so he was sure it would be fine. 

Probably. 

Grogu’s Force signature brushed up against his in a way to indicate laughter, likely catching that last thought. _Well, at least one of them had cheered up_ Obi-Wan thought as they began to move forward once more. 

After half an hour, Obi-Wan was certain they had explored almost every centimetre of the place and they had yet to find anything aside from dust mites. Seriously! When was the last time any sentient or droid had cleaned up here? Obi-Wan probably resembled an albino Ewok at this rate given how the dust clung to his clothes. Amusingly Grogu was not faring much better, looking like a baby Iakaru complete with what looked like large eyebrows that were instead dust fluff that followed down his long ears. Obi-Wan suppressed another sneeze as more dust got into his nose, then gave a small sigh when Grogu _did_ sneeze - which he muffled by pressing his face into a somewhat clean spot on his tunic. Classic youngling manoeuvre - this is why he didn’t like to work with the youngest at the crèche, you ultimately got covered in gross body fluids and craft supplies. 

His clothes would have needed a wash regardless but he still couldn’t help but send Grogu a sarcastic “thanks” in the Force. 

They continued to shuffle their way through the ductwork, not having much luck to the point Obi-Wan was fairly sure they had gone in a loop. But it was around here somewhere, so they continued on. 

Grogu was the one to spot it through one of the vents: a small door - inconsequential looking really, possibly a closet. Likely why they had gone past it the first time without noticing it. This time though, one of the Daan was leaving it, allowing a brief glimpse into the room beyond with its console, camera, and transceiver. 

Jackpot!

Reaching out to the Force once more and asking for its help, Obi-Wan sensed the surrounding area for any active minds and once he didn’t find any, he began to unscrew the vent - leaving the bolts and cover to hover midair while they slipped out. 

Dropping to the floor caused an amusing cloud of dust and dirt to fly in the air - it looked like no one much bothered to clean the halls either. More the better for them!

Wasting no time, they darted to the doorway across the hall and Obi-Wan palmed the access pad. He was relieved when there was no corresponding beep for keypad password or biometric input - it was to their benefit but it was a bit concerning how lacking their security was internally considering what they had set up outside of the building. 

They didn’t even wait for the door to fully open before they were moving inside, pushing the door closed behind them. Grogu augmenting his small jumps with the Force to go from the floor, to against Obi-Wan’s leg, to on top of a chair, then to the top of the console - in his haste disregarding how rebounding off of Obi-Wan’s leg like that almost caused him to fall. 

_Selfish youngling._

Though Obi-Wan supposed he couldn’t blame him, if he thought his comm would be welcomed by the Jedi, he would likely be in a rush to speak to them too. To be assured that they were coming and that he would soon be safe.

Obi-Wan couldn’t begrudge Grogu that, so he said nothing as he looked over the console for the correct buttons to set-up an off-planet out-of-sector comm. 

Once he was sure he had everything set-up, he punched in the first four-digit Outer Rim area code numbers that he remembered while he prompted Grogu for the rest. Once all fifteen numbers were in, a small holo of a spinning circle appeared while the call was placed. 

Obi-Wan expected it would take a while to connect considering what little he knew. Melida-Daan was in the Cadavine sector which was Outer Rim - much like the Noonian, Ojestor, Mandalore, Meerian, and Weneen sectors that had that comm area code. However, Melida-Daan was on the opposite side of the known galaxy to those sectors - even travelling on the Hydian Way it still took a week to travel between those sectors at best. 

Thankfully holo calls were much faster considering they were just signals bouncing off receivers rather than physical matter travelling but Obi-Wan would still be surprised if it connected in under an hour. Though if Grogu’s Mandalorian… parent? Guardian? Friend? It was so hard to say when no name or title was given and all he had to work with were the few images Grogu shared with him… Though they could be lucky if Grogu’s person was in the area, it would be connected much faster. 

Feeling awkward staring at the spinning holo, Obi-Wan turned and wandered around the room. There was a small vent at ground level that they would just be able to squeeze into - looked like the building had two ventilation circuits: one high and the other at ground level. There was possibly a basement then for the building… hmm. Obi-Wan pushed away his curiosity for now - the important thing was that they had another method of escape or at least hiding out if their infiltration was discovered. Whisking a small multi-tool out of his belt, he began to manually unscrew the vent cover - no sense asking the Force for help when he was perfectly capable of doing it himself.

With that done, he looked around the rest of the small room. There was a pile of small empty boxes, some unidentifiable odds and ends, empty ration wrappers, and a broom. Nothing really useful. He then wandered to the door and was mildly dismayed to find that there was no lock - this was looking more and more to be just a repurposed closet - but Obi-Wan did find a small access panel and ripped out a few key wires. Trying the access pad, he gave a pleased smirk when it flashed error-red and an unhappy beep. Good, they wouldn’t be snuck up on while placing the call.

He wandered back over to where Grogu was staring intently at the spinning holo and looking absolutely miserable. It had barely been ten minutes, he hoped the youngling wasn’t despairing over the amount of time it was taking to connect - this was sadly not the Inner Core with its super-high-speed comms and close-together planets. 

As if to prove him wrong, there was a soft ping sound as the comm indicated it had reached its intended receiver and was now waiting for them to pick up. Grogu’s ears perked up from where they had sunk and the youngling leaned forwards as they waited for the comm to fully connect.

 _Di-Ding!_

“Jaster speaking.” An armoured Mandalorian answered though they appeared distracted as they were looking down for or at something. When they didn’t get a reply, they looked up and at the holo. It was hard to tell considering the helmet, but the other seemed a bit surprised to see them given how they jerked back and then leaned forward. With the closer view, their armour looked rather different from Grogu’s memories - though that could have just been the result of the blue wash of the holo. _Had he misdialed?_

Just to be sure, Obi-Wan turned to Grogu, “Is this your… dad?”

Grogu pouted and shook his head definitively, ears drooping down once more.

“Sorry for bothering you Mxster,” Obi-Wan said politely, not letting his voice shake despite feeling intimidated by the helmet’s dead stare. “Wrong comm!” Before the other could reply, he leaned over and hung up.

He did not want to be offensive to anyone’s culture but that armour made them _scary_. 

“At least we got a Mandalorian?” He said after letting out the breath he had been holding. He then turned to Grogu and gave a wan smile, trying to be reassuring. “Let’s try again. I’ll dial more carefully.” Setting up the console once more for an off-planet outside-of-sector call, he then pecked out the numbers one by one, like an Endorian tip-yip pecking at seed. Sure that the numbers were correct this time and in the right order, he placed the holo call once more. 

They waited with bated breath for another ten minutes, then the holo pinged, then dinged as the call connected. 

It was the same Mandalorian.

_Kark._

Hopefully they didn’t mind that Obi-Wan had hung up on them earlier?

“Er… sorry to bother you again Mxster.” Obi-Wan began politely, “I’m trying to reach the guardian of this youngling here who indicated that I could reach them at this code. Would you happen to know a …” Then he floundered, he didn’t know anything about the Mandalorian they were trying to reach - not their name, their clan, or anything distinguishing. “… a Mando who is missing a green youngling called Grogu?”

Instead of immediately replying, the other reached up and slowly took off their helmet, revealing the man beneath. They were a middle-aged humanoid with flecks of grey in his short black hair, with a square jaw, some scruff, and a nose that had been broken at least once. They looked at them with eyes filled with concern.

“I’m afraid I don’t know anyone missing a foundling by the name of Grogu.” They said calmly, “My name is Jaster Mereel, he/him/his. This happens to be the code of my younger cousin Marea Djarin who is currently away on a mission. To my knowledge, she has not adopted recently - I don’t suppose you would be able to tell me the name of Grogu’s guardian?”

“I don’t know.” Obi-Wan admitted, turning to Grogu and asking again, “I don’t suppose you could tell me now?” In answer, Grogu patted his chest twice while he sent him the memory of a fist tapping similarly on a beskar plate and murmuring _This is the Way_. He turned back to Jaster and admitted with a sigh, “That’s a no… Unless you know someone called ‘the Way’?”

Jaster looked a little curious at the wordless exchange but shook his head, “They’re a traditionalist if they follow the Way - they don’t share their names or faces with any but their closest _ali_ -family.”

Obi-Wan looked at Grogu exasperatedly and commented “You know that makes it infinitely harder to find them and to get you off this hellhole.”

Grogu just babbled at him in response, sending him more mental pictures of his… whatever he was to Grogu. 

“Um. He has a set of silver armour and a black cape with a mudhorn insignia on one pauldron. He fights with a spear, flamethrower, some blasters… Grogu I have no idea what those are, some small bird things?… What do you mean they whistle?… That’s not helpful youngling!”

Jaster interrupted, looking bemused by the one-sided banter, “I’m not familiar with any clan who uses a mudhorn as a symbol, but I’ll put word out to my people.”

“Your people?” Obi-Wan asked hesitantly, an apprehensive feeling swelling in him.

“Yes,” Jaster replied amused, “I’m the Mand’Alor of the Haat’Mandoade - the leader of my faction of Mandalorians.”

“...You’re a _King,_ ” Obi-Wan said faintly, sitting down heavily in the chair as he stared wide-eyed. He turned to Grogu and hissed, panicked “ _We just cold-called a KING!_ ”

Grogu tapped his hand gently and pushed reassurance at him in the Force, which didn’t reassure him at all considering that they didn’t have a better idea of what was happening.

“Young one, you are not looking so good.” Jester gently said after a moment of silence, “Not to be harsh but you look like you are having a rough time. It is hard to be looking after another child when you are still one yourself - even on a planet with plenty. I would be happy to send one of my verde to stay with you until you can find Grogu’s guardian. Where are you?”

Obi-Wan felt his hurt pride swell, he was managing just fine looking after the younglings in his care! Knowing he was reacting childishly, he couldn’t help but retort: “I’m managing just fine! I managed to get an entire crate of bacta and rations for the Young last week! We don’t want any more adults around here!”

Jaster just looked at him calmly, not reacting to the anger in his voice. He waited for Obi-Wan to stop visibly bristling before commenting: “I know well what starvation looks like. You might not want any adults around little one, but it looks like you might need one because you are in over your head.”

He paused for a moment, running a stressed hand through his hair before looking at the camera earnestly, “Children are precious to my people and to leave one to suffer is an anathema of what it means to be Mandalorian. I’d soon as give up my armour then allow you to deal with pain that I could prevent.”

"Adults are decidedly _unhelpful_ here." Obi-Wan commented, looking at him suspiciously, “No outsider has tried or managed to do anything to help here before. Why would you be any different?”

Jaster gave him a wry grin, “As I said, children are the future and it is the Mandalorian creed that they are to be protected. Any iota of effort less than that is simply unacceptable.”

“I’m on Melida-Daan,” Obi-Wan replied, chin up and daring, testing the other. “Where war has been fought for a century between the Melida and the Daan, and now an army of their children and I are trying to end it.”

“AN AR-ARMY?!” Jaster spluttered, outrage growing across his features. “An army of _children_? Fighting against their parents?”

“Dying too,” Obi-Wan said darkly. “Have been now for about five years. And yet no Mandalorians or anyone else has come to protect them or to stop the slaughter.”

“Well. That ends today!” Jaster said cheerfully, in the same tone as the masked serial killer in the holos that Siri loved to watch. “We can’t really…” **BOOM.**

An enormous explosion rocked the building and interrupted Jaster; also causing dust and debris to fall into the room. Obi-Wan blinks at the holo, confused, dazed with blood running down from his face from where a piece of concrete had struck him. 

There’s now also incoherent shouting from the other side of the door and, before he can string his thoughts together to react, there’s another explosion as the door bursts inwards from the force of a grenade. 

He hated having to rely on the youngling but was very grateful that Grogu was with him to throw a Force shield around them for those few seconds - protecting them from the worst of the flying metal and stone. 

“Kriff! It’s some of the Young! They must be working with the Melida!” A voice calls through the dust cloud and the area erupted into blaster fire. 

Obi-Wan grabs Grogu and gently throws him towards the vent that he had opened earlier. Then, despite the fact that he is assuredly concussed at this point, he manages to dodge almost all of the bolts with the grace of a month's practice.

The dust cloud was settling but still gave him enough cover to close the distance without the two Daan being aware. A snap kick at the elbow has their blaster pointing skyward, followed by a punch to the abdomen has the one doubling over winded, possibly with cracked ribs. He brings his leg up and brings it down as hard as he can on their shoulder, breaking their collarbone. 

At this point, the cloud of dust had settled and the other Daan quickly spotted him standing over the body of his unconscious brethren, and causing him to shoot wildly. Obi-Wan began to dodge once more as best he can and grimaced when he felt a bolt extinguish the life of the unconscious Daan. He would kill if he must, but he preferred to instead severely incapacitate where he could - hence the broken arm, ribs, and collarbone.

What a _waste_. 

With visibility back and the closer distance, he has to be infinitely more acrobatic in dodging while trying to get close. He crouches, springs up, and bounces off the walls all the while contorting his body to avoid the blasts as best he can.

He can sense Grogu’s presence in the Force, as the youngling reached out and moments later a chunk of concrete fell from the ceiling and almost lands on his opponent. 

It’s his chance! Not wasting any momentum, he finishes his dodge with a back handspring and spins into a tornado kick, feeling the other’s ribs crack under his foot and knocking him down. Obi-Wan picks up the fallen blaster, changes the setting to stun and shoots the other before he can get back up.

With the immediate threat gone, Obi-Wan’s senses lose their hyperfocus: allowing him to hear shouts in the hall as the fighting comes closer. The explosion earlier must have been the Melida attacking again to regain control of the comms centre. 

After a moment's hesitation, Obi-Wan shoots the comm console a few times. At this point, they would be unlikely to get back in here, and it would make their efforts meaningless if the Elders were able to contact any arms dealers to replenish their destroyed supply. 

He then gets down low and squeezes into the vent after Grogu, using the Force to put the cover back into place after him.

-x-

"...Was anyone recording that?" Jaster asked, once the firefight was over and the comm line cut due to the blaster fire.

He didn't think the youngling realized that he hadn't ended the call when the explosions started. He was glad they hadn't because the ensuing acrobatics and takedowns were among some of the best he'd seen from an eleven- or twelve-year-old ad. If not actually the best!

He was a little concerned though how the child hadn't seemed to register when he took a bolt to the knee or shoulder, nor the one that clipped his arm. He was _very_ concerned that the child seemed just to shrug off a heavily bleeding head wound - _this is why we wear **karking helmets!** _

His hadn't been how he'd expected anything to go today. His morning had started out normal enough: arranging for supplies, training, reading reports from his verde who were taking missions off-planet, and then meeting with the allied and sympathetic Clan heads to discuss treaties and trade agreements. It had been in the meeting when his comm sounded - which given his cousin was undercover and this was her contact comm, he would always answer. 

Things had rapidly devolved from there. 

The only good thing really to come from that call was that now, well, there were no _sympathetic_ clans - only allies. Allies who were making arrangements for their own scattered verde to make it to Melida/Daan

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you think! Comments give me motivation to write more!


End file.
